Shares in English soccer premiership champions Manchester United fell 6 per cent early today after news that chief executive Mr Peter Kenyon had quit to take up the same post at Chelsea.
By 8.33 a.m. the shares were down 10 pence to 168-1/4p.
Mr Kenyon's switch to Chelsea is another demonstration of the London club's spending power and comes after a £110 million assault on the player transfer market since Russian billionaire Mr Roman Abramovich took over in July.
Analysts said Mr Kenyon's move had had a predictable impact on the share price but they expected a smooth handover to his replacement, Manchester United managing director Mr David Gill, who has been heavily involved in the club's deal-making.
"Kenyon is a well-known brand and marketing manager and he has done a significant amount for the club. That's not to say that David Gill wasn't involved in negotiations as well, clearly David was an integral part of these deals," said Mr Andrew Lee, leisure analyst at investment bank Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein.
"Peter leaves little uncertainty surrounding major deals for David in the short term, the Nike (kit) deal has got another 12 years to run, the Vodafone (sponsorship) deal has got another year to run," he said.